Millions of Americans fall victim to hundreds of different types of fraud every year.

Some frauds may cause nothing more than embarrassment, while other frauds can cost a person everything they have. Fraud may be nothing new, but since the advent of computers, fraud has been steadily on the rise. In fact, it has been estimated that 60-90% of all incidents of fraud were committed with the help of a computer. Estimates on the annual cost of fraud and the number of victims greatly vary; however, the indisputable fact is that fraud is very common in American society. Therefore, the best solution is awareness. While some fraud schemes can be quite elaborate, many are very simple and play off of the general public’s inattention to detail, hesitancy to confront questionable situations and general lack of effort to actively protect one’s self. As a general rule of thumb, if something seems too good to be true, is not being done logically or is against standard business practice, or just seems wrong, more than likely something is wrong. Consider the following general fraud avoidance strategies. Guard your personal information; don’t provide any personal information to any seller/ business/ charity unless you know exactly who you are dealing with. Pay the safest way; credit cards are the safest way to pay for online purchases because you can dispute the charges if you never get the goods or services or the offer was misrepresented. Understand the offer; a legitimate seller will give you all the details about the products or services, the total price, the delivery time, the refund and cancellation policies and the terms of any warranty. Resist pressure; a legitimate seller/ business/ charity will be happy to give you time to make a decision. It may be a scam if they demand that you act immediately or won’t take “No” for an answer. Fake cashier checks and money orders are not uncommon; banks may cash or deposit fake checks and then hold you responsible when they discover the problem days later. Further information on fraud is available at www.miami.edu/police or through the UMPD Crime Prevention Office at (305) 284-1105.

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The Miami Hurricane is the student newspaper of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. The newspaper is edited and produced by undergraduate students at UM and is published weekly in print on Tuesdays during the regular academic year.